Method and apparatus for straightening metallic arrows and the like



Oct. 4, 1960 COVY METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STRAIGHTENING METALLIC ARROWS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 1, 1957 6 l7 as 2 a/ I l2 6 3 2 a, l/ i Laval m =1 INVENTOR. f/MW/ Coy) WM W Arum/7 United a s Patent IV.[EI'HOD AND APPARATUS FOR STRAIGHTEN- lNG METALLIC ARROWS AND THE LIKE Harry Covy, 18615 Brentwood, Livonia, Mich.

Filed Aug. 1, 1957, Ser. No. 675,719

, 3 Claims. 01. 153-39 This invention relates to metal arrows for use in archery, and relates specifically to amethod and apparatus for straightening such arrows and the like which have become bent through use.

Archery is one of our oldest sports, but the use of metal arrows is comparatively new. Metal arrows are usually made of aluminum tubing, in order to be sufficiently light in weight. However, such arrows are very ductile, and are frequently bent when the target ismissed, as the arrow strikes the ground or some other hard object. Obviously there is nothing so useless as a crooked arrow, and therefore they must be straightened before use.

The average archer either tries to straighten them himself by hand; with little success, or else takes them to some other person who straightens them by hand himself, also with little success except in obtaining a fee for each such .efiort. ,Some arrow shops use tool room inethods for straightening arrows, but these are slow and costly, and obviously of no value in the field. What is really needed, therefore, is a 'method and apparatus for straightening arrows which will be fast, accurate, economical, and portable. That is the problem which thisinvention solves in a simple but novel way.

An object of the invention is thus to provide a method for straightening arrows, which is fast and accurate, and which can .be used inthe field.

- A second object is to provide a novel gage for use in straightening arrows, in order to determine the straightness of. an arrow at pointsalong its length. A third object is to provide an arrow straightener and gage which is. accurate, economical, and portable. An advantage of the invention is that it provides a method of straightening arrows which does notrequire skill .or practice, which can be used in the field, and which is inexpensive.-

Other objects and advantages of my more fully appear in the accompanying description and drawings, wherein'are disclosed preferred embodiments of my invention. In the drawings, like numerals refer to like parts. In the drawings: r ,Fig. 1 represents an elevation, in cross-section, of a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 represents a'plan view of said embodiment of m'yinvention; i

:3,-3 of Fig. 1; and l r. Fig. .4, represents a cross-section taken along the line 4l.4 of Fig. 1. q o

Inthe drawings, a-tubular metallic arrow 10, with .point 11, fletching 12, and nock 13 isshown inserted in my arrow straightening apparatus, being held in position primarily by means of a bushing 14., Said bushing 14 is itself mountedin block 15, and held in position by' means invention will Patented Oct. 4, 1960 ice end of the arrow, just beyond the nock 13 and before the fletching 12.

An alignment shaft 18 extends longitudinally from'the bottom of said block 15. Its length is greater than the maximum distancewhich the arrow 10 can protrude rearwardly from said bushing 14. It is preferably fixed in position in said block 15 by means of a set screw 19; The longitudinal axes of bushing 14 and the alignment shaft 18 are substantially parallel to each other. At the end of said alignment shaft 18, I may provide a hook 20, for digging arrows out of sand in which they may have fallen during use.

Also mounted on said block 15 is a bending lever 21, with depending lugs 22, 23 abutting the sides of block 15, and being pivoted thereon by means of a pin 24 extending through said lugs 22, 23 and block 15. A straightening member 25 projects from said bending lever 21, on the opposite side of said lugs 22, 23, and is adapted to pass below said arrow 10. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, said straightening member 25 may comprise a pair of arms 26, 27 adapted to pass around opposite sides of said arrow 10, and a connecting member 28 adapted to pass below said arrow 10 and to connect said arms 26, 27 to each other. Thus, the'pin 24 acts as a fulcrum for the bending lever 21, so that when the latter is depressed, the straightening member 25, and in particular the connecting member 28 thereof, will be caused to exert an upward force on an arrow 10, thereby tending to bend it upwardly.

A handle 29 extending from said block 15, below said bending lever ,21, assists in depressingthe bending lever 21 by permitting a squeeze grip.

The upper surface of the block 15 contains an upward- 1y. projecting boss 30. A threaded adjusting screw 31 extends through a threaded opening in the bending lever 21, in alignment with said boss 30. When the bending lever 21 is depressed, the boss 30 thus acts as a stop. The maximum amount of bending of an arrow 10 may therefore be adjusted by the extent to which the adjusting screw 31 has been screwed down toward the boss 31 A helical spring 32, held in position by said boss 30 and adjusting screw 31, acts to lift the bending lever 21 to its normal position after each use.

Another boss 33 also projectsupwardly from the alignment shaft housing 34 which extends longitudinally from the lower part of block 15. A helical spring 35,

Fig.. 3 represents a cross-section taken along the line of a set screw 16. Around washer 17 is placed on the the lower end of which is fastened to said boss 33, is adapted to extend up to the lower surface of the arrow 10 and to assist in keeping it inparallelism with the alignment shaft 18,- in the event that there is a significant amount of play in the bushing 14.

The method of operation of my invention is as follows. The round washer 17 is placed over the neck 13 of an arrow 10 to be straightened, and the arrow 10 1's inserted through the bushing 14 as far as'it will go. The fletching 12'of the'arrow 10 will thus be adjacent the straightenstraighten it, the arrow 10 is rotated to the position at which the alignment gap 36 is the minimum, indicating a bend downward toward the alignment shaft 18, and the bending lever 21 is depressed. The straightening member 25 will thus bend the arrow upwardly,'to compensate for the downward bend. Proper adjustment of the adjusting screw31 for a particular type of arrow 10 will limit the amount"ofupward'bending of the ari'ow to correspond to the diiference'between the arrow 19 is less than this, the amount.of 'upwardv bending of the arrow ltl'willautomatically be less than this when the bending lever 21 is depressed (as, limited by. the boss 30 and adjusting screw 31). If there is no bend whatever in the arrow 10 at a certain point, depression of the bending lever21 in this way will cause no. upward bending of the arrow. 10.

To be more precise, if there is no bendjn arrow; 10 and the bending lever 21: is nevertheless depressed, the straightening member 25. exerts. an upward stress on arrow 10 which does not exceed the elasti'climit of the metal. constituting said arrow 10, so, thatthe arrow. 16 is temporarily bent upward during operation ofthebending lever 21 but upon release thereof; thev arrow 10 springs back to its original configuration. This fact suggests the preferred method of adjusting the adjusting screw 31. For a particular type of arrow 10, pull said arrow 10 out of bushing 14 for most ofits length, andfind a position of the washer 17' which shows a normal. alignment gap 36, so that no straightening; is required at thispoint. The adjusting screw 31 should now be screwed in or out to such a position that the upward force which. can be exerted by the straightening member 25 on. the arrow 10 is substantially the maximum amount short. of creating any permancntdeformation or bending of the. arrow 10. With such an adjustment of the adjustingscrew 3 1, the amount of upward bending caused by depression of the bending lever 21 in any case will. alwaysbe substantially the amount requiredto eliminatea downward bend in the arrow 10. Thus, no skill will. be required in. the bending operation as, regardless of the amount ofstraightening required, depression 'of the bending lever 21 will be sufficient to accomplish this result.

Thus, the existence of a bend at any point along the arrow It) is discovered by rotating the arrow 10. to the point of minimum alignment gap 36. The bending lever 21 is then depressed, straightening out said. bend. The arrow 10 is then pulled out of bushing 14 a little at a time, in each case rotating arrow 10 tocheck for bends by observing the alignment gap 36, until the. entire arrow ltlhas been straightened in this way. i

In most cases, there will be only one bend',jwhich will be. readily found in thisway, andreadily corrected. If the bend is severe, it may bezcorrected by pulling the arrow ltlthrough the bushing 14 for itsfull length, while maintaining the bending lever 21 in. the depressed position throughout. I

. In order to determine whether a particular arrow 10 requires any straightening at all, a quick check may be made by inserting said arrow 10 into thebushing 14 for only a short distance and rotating it, while observing the alignment gap 36. If no bend is noted in this way, it indicates that the arrow is straight from one end to the other, unless there should happen tobe two exactly compensating bends, which is very rare, and which would normally be noticeable by eye.

An arrow straightener of this type weighs about one pound. The alignment shaft-1'8 can be unscrewed from its housing 34 and carried with the arrows, and the rest of the apparatus can be carried in thepocket of the quiver. Thus, the apparatus can be ready' for use in .less than a minute, and may be used in the fieldif desired.

Obviously, many variations in the details of construction of my invention are possible, and I shall not attempt to mention them exhaustively. Thus, instead-v of using a. bushing 14 to hold the arrow 10 parallel to the alignment shaft 18, I may use a plurality. of spaced, axially aligned bushings or V-blocks. I may provide for a variety of arrow diameters. by using removable, bushings. or adapters. The details {of design .the straightening 4. member 25 may alsobe varied-in many ways, for example. by eliminating one of the arms 26, 27. In fact, the straightening member 25, lugs 22, 23, and bending lever 21 may be eliminated altogether, and the actual bending done by hand in the way described above, but this is not preferred because there is then no automatic determination of the correct amount of bending required.

Various other modifications; may also be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the; following; claims which zit-redirected to theprincipal features of the invention rather than tothe readily changeable details 1. An apparatus for straightening; shafts of metallic arrows and the like, compr sing; a substantially straight alignment surface; longitudinal aligning means for rotatably and slidingly holding said shaft substantially parallel to said alignment surface; a free annular round washer mountable transversely onanddismountable from said shaft, asubstantially circular. axial. aperture extending therethrough of diameterv large enough to, permit sliding said washer over an end, of said. shaft. for transverse mounting thereon but small enough to cause said washer when mountedon said shaftfto fit tightly enough thereon to permit it to move linearly with and in rotation with said shaft asthe latter moves, the outer radius of said washer being less than the distance between the longitudinal axis. ofsaid aligning means and the aforesaid alignment surface, so. that a visually observable gap of. predetermined magnitude is left therebetween in the case of a substantially straight shaft; and means for bending said shaft away. from. said alignment surface an amount sufiicient toeliminate substantially any variation in the gap between. said Washer and said alignment surface when said shaft is rotated.

2. An apparatus. fo straightening shafts of metallic arrows and the like, comprising: a substantially straight alignment surface; longitudinal aligning. means for ro tatably and slidingly holding said shaft substantially parallel to said alignment surface; a free annularround washer mountable transversely onandj dismountable from said shaft, a substantially circular axialaperture extending therethrough of diameterlarge enoughto permit slidingsaidwa'sher over an end of said shaft for transverse mounting thereon but small enough to. cause saidwasher when mounted on said shaft to, fitltightly enough thereon to permit itto. move linearly with in rotation with saidshaft as the, latter mOVfiSQthe outer radius of said washerbeing less. tha'n the distance'between the longi tudinal' axis of said aligning means and-the aforesaid alignment surface, so that alvisnally observable gap of predetermined magnitude is left thereb'etween in the case of a substantially straight shaft; a bending lever adapted to exert a force on said shaft to bend it away from. said alignment surface an amount sufiici'ent to eliminate substantially any variation in the gap between said" washer and said alignment surface when said shaft is rotated; and an adjustable stop adapted to limit the maximum motion of saidbending lever so-that, in thecase-of a substantially straight shaft, said bending lever will exert substantially the maximum amount of force possible on. said shaft without creating a permanent: deformation, thereof.

3. An apparatus. forstraightening shafts; of; metallic arrows and the 1ike,.comprising a substantially; straight alignment surface; a bearingand aligning block adapted for rotatably and; slidingly holding said shaft. therein, substantially parallel to and spaced apart from said. align.- ment surface; an annular roundwasher mounted'transversely on an end of said shaft sufiiciently tightly tomove linearly and rotationally with said shaft/as the latter is moved,'the external radius of said washer being lessthan the distance between. the'longitudinal axis ofsaid aligning block and said alignment surface; an alignment gap of predetermined magnitude, definedfby the space: between said washer and said; alignment surface; said gap being visually observable in the case of a substantially References Cited in the file of this patent straight shaft; a bending lever adapted to exert a force on UNITED STATES PATENTS said shaft suflieient to bend it away from said alignment surface an aniount suflicient to eliminate substantially 749,827 Drfver et 1903 any variation in said alignment gap when said shaft i 5 740,975 Dmvef et 00L 6, 1903 rotated; and an adjustable stop adapted to limit the 111 919206 f P 20, 1909 tion of said bending lever so that, in the case of a sub. Dawes P 1909 stantially straight shaft, said bending l v il exert 1,504,024 Clarlfi Aug. 5, 1924 stantially the maximum amount of force possible on said 2389206 McKmney et 1945 shaft without creating a permanent deformation thereof. 10 

